Shelf Drilling narrows loss, adds $343 million to backlog

Offshore drilling contractor Shelf Drilling reduced its net loss in the second quarter of 2019 and added $343 million to its contract backlog since the beginning of April 2019.

Shelf Drilling Tenacious; Source: Dubai Petroleum
Shelf Drilling Tenacious; Source: Dubai Petroleum

According to its quarterly report on Wednesday, Shelf Drilling reduced its 2Q 2019 net loss to $29.7 million from $37.4 million in the same period of 2018.

The company recorded revenues of $137.1 million during the second quarter of 2019 compared to $147.2 million in 1Q 2019 and compared to $152.5 million in 2Q 2018.

Explaining the sequential decrease in revenues, Shelf said that it was largely due to the completion of five contracts during 1Q and 2Q 2019 in India and the UAE, lower dayrates for the extended operation of one rig in the UAE and for one rig that started a new contract in Saudi Arabia, idle time on one rig in Nigeria starting mid-May and higher planned out of service time in Saudi Arabia.

This was partly offset by the startup of new contracts in India and the UAE as well as by higher uptime and revenue efficiency across the fleet.

David Mullen, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “The jack-up rig market is well underway to steady recovery. For the first time since 2015, marketed utilization for jack-up rigs is above 80% with more than 370 rigs contracted.

“With this improving demand, Shelf Drilling has had continued contracting success across regions and asset classes. Since the beginning of April 2019, we have added $343 million in contract backlog. These awards position us very well heading into 2020 as the market continues to recover from cyclical lows.”

The company had a total of $846 million in contract backlog at June 30, 2019, across 25 contracted rigs.

Offshore Energy Today Staff


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